Start of 2nd weekend of Jazz Fest soaked by rain

J.Cole performs on the Congo Square Stage during the third day of the New Orleans Jazz Fest at the Fair Grounds in New Orleans Sunday, April 24, 2016.

J.Cole performs on the Congo Square Stage during the third day of the New Orleans Jazz Fest at the Fair Grounds in New Orleans Sunday, April 24, 2016.

Photo: David Grunfeld — NOLA.com The Times-Picayune Via AP

Photo: David Grunfeld — NOLA.com The Times-Picayune Via AP

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J.Cole performs on the Congo Square Stage during the third day of the New Orleans Jazz Fest at the Fair Grounds in New Orleans Sunday, April 24, 2016.

J.Cole performs on the Congo Square Stage during the third day of the New Orleans Jazz Fest at the Fair Grounds in New Orleans Sunday, April 24, 2016.

Photo: David Grunfeld — NOLA.com The Times-Picayune Via AP

Start of 2nd weekend of Jazz Fest soaked by rain

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NEW ORLEANS >> The start of the second weekend of the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival was marked with thunderstorms, but the music played on to crowds that were thinned by the bad weather.

The headliners on Thursday included rocker Elvis Costello, rapper Flo Rida and the American roots band the Tedeschi Trucks Band, who were to play with Jimmie Vaughan and Billy F. Gibbons.

In the wet conditions, some went barefoot in the mud, while others dressed in rubber boots and rain gear as they crammed together in messy fields and under tents to enjoy the variety of musical acts and genres.

By midafternoon, the sun poked through the clouds. But the crowds were thinner than usual. Many festival goers left during the earlier deluges that made the site — the infield of a racehorse track — soggy and muddy.

For some, the thin crowds were welcome.

Vicki Ricke, a 54-year-old dental assistant from New Orleans, listening to the blues of Gary Clark Jr., said the extra room to move made the festival more fun.

Her good friend, Joan Derouen, a 60-year-old “professional grandmother” from Texas and “newbie” to Jazzfest, had a blast in the rain. Derouen said dancing in the rain is something she’s always wanted to do.

“I’ve never danced in the rain — nowhere,” she said, thrilled by the experience.